Rockets launched at US troops base housing near Baghdad airport

Rockets were launched at a base housing US troops near Baghdad airport as tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East. The missiles were fired at the base at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on Tuesday, causing no casualties, the interior ministry and two security sources said.

‘The Victoria Base at Baghdad Airport was targeted with three rockets, two of which were shot down by the base’s special defenses, while the third fell near the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Service Command,’ a security source said. A second security source confirmed there were no casualties and said that the incident had not affected air traffic.

The interior ministry later said ‘two Katyusha rockets fell, the first in the garage of the second regiment of the Counter-Terrorism Service and the other in an abandoned yard inside the airport’. Major General Yahya Rasul, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, emphasized that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has directed the Minister of Interior to conduct an immediate investigation into the incident. In unverified footage of the incident posted on X, explosions and sirens could be heard at the base which was used as the headquarters of US forces in Iraq from 2003 until 2011, when it was handed over to the Iraqi government.

It still hosts US forces, and has previously been a target of Islamist forces in Iraq. Following the attack, the next scheduled flight to leave Baghdad airport, a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul, has been cancelled. The munitions used in the airstrike were reportedly Katyusha rockets, a weapon first fielded by the Soviet Union that has recently been used in the Middle East by Hezbollah and other Iranian-linked groups in Iraq. Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday ordered an investigation into a ‘security breach’ after the Katyusha rockets landed at the Baghdad International Airport.

A rocket launcher was seized in a residential area in western Baghdad near the airport and three unfired rockets were dismantled, security sources said. Sudani ‘has directed the Minister of Interior to conduct an immediate investigation to determine the causes of the security breach involving the launch of several Katyusha rockets from the Ameriya area last night,’ according to a statement from his office. ‘He has also ordered that the results of the investigation and the identification of those responsible be announced within 48 hours,’ the statement added.

It said an investigation has begun into the attack which comes as Israeli forces launched ground raids and air strikes on Lebanon, raising fears of a wider regional conflict amid the ongoing the war in Gaza. The incident comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East, with Baghdad witnessing several restless nights as protests ensued over the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. On Saturday, the supporters of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) attempted to enter Baghdad’s Green Zone, home of the diplomatic missions, with the intent to burn down the US embassy, in retaliation for Nasrallah’s death.

Since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, militant factions have targeted bases in Iraq and Syria that house US troops because of American military support for Israel. Washington has repeatedly responded with air strikes on faction headquarters in both countries. The United States has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and around 900 in neighboring Syria as part of the coalition it established in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group.

The coalition also includes forces from other countries including Britain and France. Armed Iraqi factions loyal to Iran have demanded the withdrawal of those troops. Washington and Baghdad announced on Friday that the international coalition would end its decade-long military mission in Iraq within a year.

But the joint statement and US officials did not say how many American troops would remain in Iraq. In response, the Iraqi Resistance Coordination Committee, a coalition of Iran-backed armed groups opposed to the United States and Israel, called for the withdrawal to be ‘comprehensive and according to a clear timeline’.

After a decline in militant attacks in recent months, rockets were fired in August at the Ain al-Assad base in western Iraq, injuring seven Americans. And in September, Washington said the US diplomatic complex in Baghdad was attacked by Iran-aligned militias operating in Iraq.

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